The Republican Party of North Carolina The Republican Party of North Carolina

Republican Recap 2/15/19

Friday, February 15, 2019

As I'm sure you all know by now, Congressman Walter Jones passed away this past Sunday on his birthday. He was 76 years old and is survived by his wife Joe Anne and daughter Ashley. If you'd like to leave a written tribute to the Congressman, you may do so here.

WHAT HAPPENED

STORIES FROM THE NATION

Ah, the hits just keep on coming for 2020 hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris. She continues to run on a criminal justice reform campaign vertical, but how does her record as AG of California compare to her current statements? Check out this piece: The Daily Beast

Plenty of people don't know how taxes work, including said Senator from above. Smaller refund = less withholding = lower taxes. Harris was fact-checked this week on a statement that complained how people's taxes had gone up because they had a smaller refund. It wasn't pretty. Washington Examiner

Rep. Ilhan Omar made serious headlines this week with disgusting anti-Semitic remarks. No word from Governor Cooper or anyone else in the NC Democrat Party on her statements, but what's been underreported is that her fellow anti-Semite Rep. Rashida Tlaib wrote for the Final Call, the online newspaper for...drumroll please...Louis "Jews Are Termites" Farrakhan. The Washington Free Beacon

This morning, Congress passed a bipartisan bill to keep the government open and the President declared a national emergency to pull from various administrative funds to build the wall along the southern border. Democrats have pledged to challenge the declaration in court. Let the fun begin. USA Today

STORIES FROM NC

In 2017, NC Republicans added the NC Tuition Promise program to the budget, which lowered the in-state tuition rate at four universities around the state to $500 a semester as a test case. Most Democrats opposed it. Check out what happened at Western Carolina. The Daily Standard

With the passing of Walter Jones, there will now be a second vacancy in our state's Congressional delegation. With the Ninth still in limbo until the evidentiary hearings next week, scheduling a new election could be tricky especially with limited municipal elections in the Third. Carolina Journal

A hot topic in last year's legislation session was alcohol control. A few bills were passed to address craft brewing and alcohol sales on Sundays. Still, people want to get the government out of the business of selling liquor and a new poll supports this conclusion. Is there a chance to get rid of the ABC system this session? WECT

A couple weeks ago, the Cooper admin required the DEQ employees involved with the Atlantic Coast Pipeline NOT speak with investigators looking into the pay-to-play allegations. This action by Cooper earned him a rebuke from the National Governors Association. That isn't good. Carolina Journal

TRACKING YOUR REPRESENTATIVES

CONGRESS

As stated above, Congress passed a bipartisan bill to keep the government open. How did your representatives vote on HJRes 31?

YEA - Butterfield, Price, Foxx, McHenry, Adams, Tillis

NAY - Holding, Walker, Rouzer, Hudson, Meadows, Budd

NOT VOTING - Burr

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Still no votes this week, but plenty of bills have been filed. Between both chambers, we're already crossed the century mark. Speaking of filed bills...

Bad Bill Of The Week - The newest crop of anti-Second Amendment Democrats led by Moms Demand extremist Christy Clark unveiled a bill to continue chipping away at your rights. What might be most egregious is they now want to essentially "tax" the ability to defend yourself by forcing firearm owners to carry $100,000 worth of liability insurance, potentially per firearm. I kid you not. Read the bill here: H.B. 86

CANDIDATE SPOTLIGHT

As stated previously, we are going to highlight the judicial races for this cycle. Your education starts now. Because Governor Cooper appointed a sitting Supreme Court Justice to the Chief Justice seat, a THIRD judicial seat will be on the ballot for 2020. This means that Judge Berger and former Senator Tamara Barringer will not necessarily have to run in a primary against each other. As per Party policy, there will be no endorsements until after the March 2020 primary. However, get to know your candidates now. To remain fair, if any other candidates jump in with Berger and Barringer, I will mention them in here. We will also build a microsite for all the eventual nominees that will be on the November ballot. Get to know your candidates now so people don't go into the booth not knowing who they are.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Tomorrow, the Mecklenburg County GOP will hold a rally in support of Congressman-Elect Mark Harris! To attend, check out the details here: #IStandWithMarkHarris

As always, check out the calendar for upcoming precinct and district meetings: NCGOP Calendar